Ashlee Simpson is in a good place. She has two multi-platinum records that debuted back to back at the top of the charts, and collectively sold more than four million copies in the U.S. alone. She has two sold-out tours under her belt, a tight-knit family, a loyal fan base, and a burgeoning second career as an actress. So when it came time to create her third album, she wanted the music to represent where she was at in life.

“Life is really good right now. I’m young. I love my life and I enjoy my time off too. I wanted to celebrate all that on my next record,” says Ashlee, who has been tinkering with BITTERSWEET WORLD on and off since summer 2007. “I wanted to make music people could shake their booties to and use beats for the first time. I wanted to sing fun songs. Basically, I wanted to make a party record.”

And when an artist wants to get the party started, who better to call than Timbaland? The producing powerhouse, who helped shape recent smash hits by Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado, toiled on half of the tracks (including "Murder," "Out of My Head (Ay Ya Ya)," "Ragdoll," and "Rule Breaker") while the rest were guided by the Neptunes’ Chad Hugo and critically acclaimed Ethiopian synth-hop savant Kenna.

"The room was so blessed with talent. I was very lucky to work with people who are at the top of thei ... (read more)